The increase of storability of cucumber is traditionally one of the major goals of cucumber breeding. Storability, or shelf life, consists of multiple aspects, the most important one being fruit color. Fruit color as an aspect of extended storability can again be subdivided into two components: the initial fruit color, and the ability to stay green for an extended period of time. Both components are largely influenced by the genetic background of the cucumber plant, but environmental effects also play a role.
During a breeding process, initial fruit color can only be observed phenotypically, in the adult plant stage, after fruit harvest. The development of cucumbers with an improved storability based on an improved initial fruit color is therefore time-consuming, since the breeding cycles are long and many generations are needed to ensure the transfer of the trait. Progress in development for longer shelf-life, i.e. in an increase of days that a cucumber fruit can be stored while the color remains acceptable for consumption, is slow.
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